Just a few lines later, Cole shouts out Queensbridge, Queens’ finest, Mobb Deep, when he raps, “This where the opps creep real slow/Won’t vote but they mob deep with the poles.” Poles here is slang for weapons, which Cole cleverly uses to be heard as “polls.”Ĭlick to load video m y. The original reads, “Did you hear about the rose that grew/from a crack in the concrete?” The rhyme was later released as a posthumous song. First, he raps, “Out of the concrete was a rose and winters was cold,” which comes from a poem written by Tupac Shakur. In the span of four bars on “a m a r i,” Cole manages to make subtle allusions to rap Hall of Famers. Cole is situating himself amongst the all-time greats. State Of Mind” from Illmatic, Nas raps, “It drops deep as it does in my breath/I never sleep, ‘cause sleep is the cousin of death.” From the first moments of The Off-Season, J. He spits, “I get up, dust my clothes off, sleep is the cousin of death/No plans to doze off, the streets, it don’t come with a ref.” On “N.Y. He raps, “Back and forth from NC to New York when Jeezy had the crown,” alluding to the early 2000s when Atlanta stalwart Young Jeezy (now just Jeezy) was dominating the landscape thanks to his glossy, anthemic raps.Ĭole is, above all, a student of rap, so it’s no surprise that he goes on to reference Nas. Throughout the track, the Carolina MC uses rap references to situate just how long he’s been running the rap game. The Diplomats legend yelps his signature “Killa!,” before ceding the way for Cole’s first verse. To begin The Off-Season, Cole recruited New York rap icon Cam’ron. Let’s take a look at how he does this throughout The Off-Season. Cole is not only a rapper at the height of his powers, but the rare MC that can juggle the present and a growing legacy at the same time. Two, he places himself firmly within the canon of all-time MCs. ![]() One, he flexes his deep understanding of the themes that have remained relevant over the course of rap’s history. By referencing artists like Jeezy, Eminem, and Nipsey Hussle, plus quoting lyrics from Nas, Notorious B.I.G., and Styles P, Cole does two things. Throughout The Off-Season, Cole references peers and legends, famous bars, and mythic stories. His deep understanding of hip-hop history, its key players, and its signature moments has allowed him to tap into the legacy of the game. Cole’s The Off-Season on Apple Music or Spotify. ![]() But he also engages with the history of the genre more entirely. He revisits themes of sinning and acceptance, trying to live modesty while indulging in the riches his success has brought him. On The Off-Season, Cole consistently references his early projects like 2014’s Forest Hills Drive and 2018’s KOD. His projects are littered with bars from previous LPs and mixtapes, building on a cohesive narrative about a young kid from North Carolina with dreams of superstardom. It’s all leading up to something, themes and ideas are revisited again and again. Cole treats his discography like a novel.
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